The alert "ESXi host has detected a link status down on a physical NIC" is triggered for an unused NIC in Aria Operations.

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host will alert for Physical NIC link state down even when the link is unused.
• The symptom definition will trigger an alert for the unused link.

 

Environment

VMware Aria Operations 8.x

Cause

The ESXi host alert will check all vmnic interfaces and cannot distinguish between valid down or unused ports.

Resolution

• The issue has been resolved in Aria Operations 8.18 and later versions.
• Before triggering an alert, Aria Operations now checks if the NIC is in use within the VC MP and alerts will not be triggered for unused NICs.

Workaround for Versions Below Aria Operations 8.18:

• A workaround is available for older versions.
• It allows turning off alerts for unused NICs while keeping alerts active for used NICs.
• Create one super metric for each vmnic to be included in monitoring.
• Browse to this LINK for steps to create a super metric.
• Copy and Paste this formula when creating the super metric, adjusting the vmnic# as appropriate.
  • count(${this, metric=net:vmnic4|nicDriver}) && !count(${this, metric=net:vmnic4|speed})
• The formula will output 1 if vmnic4 is down and 0 if it is up or does not exist.
• Finally create a symptom and an alert for each super metric created above.
  • To create a SYMPTOM definition.
  • To create an ALERT definition.
• Note the workaround is considered to be customization and not supported by GSS, please engage PSO or VMware TAM if assistance is required.

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:

• Two workarounds exist:
  • Disable the alert "ESXi host has detected a link status down on a physical NIC" in all policies
  • Apply the workaround described below.
• If the alert is disabled then valid link down alerts will not be generated resulting in possible outages and delay in resolution.